I have just bought and calibrated my monitor with Color Eyes Display Pro & the DPT94B. I used to have a Viewsonic monitor that was right on and had no problems with my prints on the EP2200. I used to use Pantone color Vision to calibrate and it did a good job. I am still with XP Home edition.

After updated to CS4 a few months ago I am attempting to print the same image files I used before but the prints are dark and tend to be greener than they should be.

I have gone over the directions for how to set everything up for printing umpteen times and am a bit closer but not right yet. The files look good on the monitor but don't print anything like those old files did.

I have gone over the other thread started by Cynthia Crawford and everything seems to be the same but my prints still aren't right.
viewtopic.php?f=44&t=168412

Another concern is that I may not be seeing them correctly on the monitor and I have files to send out next week for contracts and don't know if they are right or not.

I have read that if your prints are too dark and tend to be green then you have the profiles in twice. The question is, where?

1. I understand from Cindy's thread that it is not necessary to set the Proof Setup but I have done it anyway and that Proof shows the image to be totally magenta. View>Proof Setup>Custom. Is this set to your paper choice or, to, my own example would be, Cathy's Profile(for Epson Matte)? Either way it doesn't show the real colors of the image but is way too magenta.

2. By going to File>Print the Print window comes up. There is a drop down box that has the choice of Color Management or Output. Which one do you use? Then do you use Document or Proof? In "Color Handling" I have Photoshop Handles colors. In the "Printer Profile" drop down I put Cathy's Inkjet Targets(for Epson Matte). Is that right?

3. In the Epson 2200 Printer Settings window I have Enhanced Matte in the "Paper and Quality Options" section. Under "Color Management" I have ticked ICM. Under "ICC Profile" I have ticked No Color Management.

Part of my confusion comes from the fact that none of the instructions I have read are exactly the same.

If my files used to print properly and now they are too dark and green where is it likely that I have the profiles in twice?

In printer profile choose the type of paper you will be using. If you are using an Epson paper the ICC profiles are downloadable from the Epson website.

Cathy's Injet Targets is the ICC profile for my printer. That is the only place I have the custom profile inserted other than the Proof Window.

I find it odd that if I change the profile in the Proof Window it changes how the image file appears in the main window of CS4. Why would that happen? When the Proof window comes up after starting the print process the image shows as totally magenta no matter what profile I insert.

At this point I just wish I could get somebody to come and do it for me!!!!!!!

When soft proofing that's what it's supposed to do. It shows how your image will appear when printed with that particular profile. With all due respect to Cathy ( I once purchased her profiles) if you are using Epson Matte paper, download the profile from their website. Use this when soft proofing and use this in the printer profile drop down box in the print menu.

Let's drop back a step or two and see if we can get some basics:

You're trying to print the same files you printed before profiling your monitor, you've made no adjustments to them, they look the same as always on the monitor in Photoshop with Proof Colors off(unchecked)?

In Photoshop's Color Settings(Edit>Color Settings) what is your RGB Working Space? It should be either Adobe RGB(1998), sRGB IEC61966-2.1 or ProPhoto RGB. A quick way to set up your color settings is just to use the Settings: dropdown to select North American Prepress 2 and then change the RGB working space to your preference.

I'm going to assume you've run a nozzle check, clean and alignment on the printer. From the results you're getting it doesn't appear to be a printer problem but it never hurts. I'm also going to assume your images are the same and that Photoshop color is set correctly....

1. I understand from Cindy's thread that it is not necessary to set the Proof Setup but I have done it anyway and that Proof shows the image to be totally magenta. View>Proof Setup>Custom. Is this set to your paper choice or, to, my own example would be, Cathy's Profile(for Epson Matte)? Either way it doesn't show the real colors of the image but is way too magenta.
This is set to the paper profile you'll be using, in your case the Cathy's profile(whatever the name is). Have you tried another profile like the Enhanced Matte profile from Epson? If not, try another profile and see if you get the same results.

2. By going to File>Print the Print window comes up. There is a drop down box that has the choice of Color Management or Output. Which one do you use? use color Management Then do you use Document or Proof? It really doesn't matter, "Proof" will let you select the paper profile and apply it to the preview in the print dialog box. For simplicity, just use "Document". In "Color Handling" I have Photoshop Handles colors. In the "Printer Profile" drop down I put Cathy's Inkjet Targets(for Epson Matte). Is that right? Yep, if that's the name of the profile.


3. In the Epson 2200 Printer Settings window I have Enhanced Matte in the "Paper and Quality Options" section. Under "Color Management" I have ticked ICM. Under "ICC Profile" I have ticked No Color Management.
It's been a long time since I used a 2200 but, IIRC, this is right.

You really need to try another profile, from the results you're getting in Proof Setup it sounds like the one you're using has been corrupted somehow. Either that or something's way wrong with color settings or the driver somewhere.

If you get the same results with the Epson profile, post some screenshots of your Photoshop color settings, print dialog and driver settings somewhere and link them. We'll dig deeper...

HTH,
Bill

Everything else seems to be right.

I'm at the point of trying a new profile. I have downloaded the new Epson 2200 Epson Matte profiles but for some reason when I try to run the exe file it says it can't be found. Matte paper is the only one I use so this makes things difficult. Where do I go from here?

I just tried downloading a profile. It prompted me to unzip the file, which I did and the install manager kicked in; now I'm set to go. I'm on Vista. I'm not sure if that makes any difference.

Charlie,

I do think that the newly updated Epson 2200 profiles are for Vista and Windows 7 although I don't see that anywhere.

I don't think the OS impacts the profiles; just the driver.

What are the differences between Adobe Photoshop CS3 and CS4? Hi, I am an avid digital scrapbooker and also design my own digital scrabooking kits. I currently use photoshop CS3, but I am contemplating making the upgrade to CS4. What are the major differences I might notice, and do they make it worth it to make the change? Any info you might have would be very much appreciated!

The biggest improvements in CS4 are as follows:
Full 64 bit version if using Windows so you can use more than 2.6GB of RAM which makes it much faster
MUCH better RAW conversion

Searching Google for Photoshop CS4 New Features should answer all your questions and even find a number of videos that show you how to use new features. But since CS4 is nearly 4 years old, why not go to CS5? You can upgrade directly from CS3 to CS5.